Gwinnett County officials hope their new minor league baseball stadium will be a friendly place full of Gwinnettians and their families rubbing shoulders.

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To make sure everybody got the message, the project's groundbreaking ceremony started Tuesday morning with a barbershop quartet singing, "Hi, Neighbor."

Then they launched into "Take Me Out to the Ball Game."

Not quite yet boys, but maybe in April.

The ceremony marked the official start of construction on the $45 million stadium, although site work has been under way for weeks and the playing surface and bowl that will eventually provide seating for thousands of fans has already been carved out of the dirt.

County officials and representatives of the Atlanta Braves, whose top minor league affiliate will move from Richmond, Va., to play in the new stadium, attended the groundbreaking.

"It's a big hole in the ground right now, but it's going to rise up and become a zenith," said Richard Tucker, chairman of the Gwinnett Convention and Visitors Bureau, which is managing the project on behalf of the county.

The county is under contract with the Braves to finish the stadium in time for opening day in April 2009.

Footings for the stadium should begin to go in later this month, with work on the seating bowl to commence in September.

The groundbreaking was the second consecutive event related to the team. On Monday, Braves officials unveiled the new logo and uniform for the Gwinnett Braves. The design mirrors that of the parent team.